More people have been exploring the idea of holistic medicine in lockdown.
It was not until the 1960s that these alternative practices started to re-emerge in the West. But what exactly are they and what place do they have in the modern world?
We spoke with York practitioner Dr Ruth Tarr about her services and what holistic practices have to offer in the modern age.
A specialist in Reiki and hypnotherapy, Ruth describes holistic services as “treating someone as a whole, so we are not separating out the mind from the physical body, from emotions or the spirit, or the soul or whatever you want to call it”.
She knows that some people consider this type of treatment strange. “They have every right to be sceptical, if you don’t know about them, you are going to have to find out about find out about it and speak to someone.
“It’s really important with someone like that you talk to them and help put them at ease.”
Ruth points out that as well as private practitioners such as herself, the NHS also offers alternative or complimentary services such as acupuncture, to be used alongside more traditional western medicine.
“I think sometimes the word alternative put people off, a lot of what I do is complimentary, it sits side by side with traditional medicine.”
‘You’re in control’
Ruth believes it is important to stress that hypnotherapy is not what like what you may have seen on television “It’s not me turning you into a chicken, I’m not going to make you rob a bank, that’s different.
“You are in control the whole time, you will remember what is said to you, you’re not asleep.”
With her business having to be moved online, Ruth considers herself lucky that she is still able to offer her services online so has been able to run her business almost as normal throughout the pandemic.
There are lots of people like massage therapists who are really having to think outside the box what they can offer. For me, because even Reiki can be done as a distance healing it still works really well.”
Able to look on the bright side of having to move online, Ruth has also been able to see clients much further afield than just York since moving online, with enquires coming from Ireland, and even further away in the Maldives.
Positive behaviours
Another York based hypnotherapist Angie Doig-Thorne has also been seeing the benefits of moving to an online platform as it has made life easier for her clients.
“They don’t have to think about travelling, or anything like that, so it is just as effective, if not more so that face to face therapy.”
Angie specialises in stress and weight-loss and has been a qualified hypnotherapist for twelve years. She describes hypnotherapy as “getting the conscious mind out of the way to put positive suggestions into your subconscious mind to create new habits and behaviours.”
With this resurgence of holistic therapies since 1960’s, could now be the time for a wider group of people to be more open to these different ways of doing things, especially given how lockdown has effected so many people mentally over the past year.
With the NHS overwhelmed, these complimentary services may be helpful for those having a tough time right now that are willing to try something different.